Interpersonal speaking is a fundamental skill for language learners as they progress toward higher proficiency levels. This skill extends beyond memorizing keywords or rehearsing scripted dialogues. It requires learners to engage in spontaneous interactions, negotiate meaning, and respond dynamically in real time (Burns, 2016). In an increasingly…

Language negotiations facilitate second language acquisition (SLA) in both face-to-face (FTF) and computer-mediated interactions. Research shows that dyadic type can impact the quantity and quality of negotiations. Although both learner (L)-learner and native speaker (NS)-L dyadic type interactions have shown to be beneficial to SLA, it is still…

Few studies have compared the nature of negotiation of meaning across face-to-face (FTF) and synchronous computer-mediated communication (SCMC) modes with mixed-proficiency dyads. Such comparisons can help identify important strengths and weaknesses of each mode. Therefore, this study explored whether FTF and SCMC modes differ in terms of…

This study sets out to explore the effect of proficiency and modality of interaction on code-switching (CS) amongst two groups of Spanish-Catalan learners acquiring English as a Foreign Language (EFL) in Primary school (grade 3, n = 24 and grade 6, n = 21). Data was retrieved from audio-taped oral activities (peer interaction and learner-teacher…

Conversation-for-learning (Kasper and Kim 2015) is a pedagogical arrangement set up with a view to maximizing the potential benefit of interaction for language learning. As participants for conversation-for-learning are recruited for their relative expertise in the target languages, the talk is often characterized by asymmetries in knowledge and…

This study aimed to investigate the dynamic patterns of two concepts of silence explicated as a communication strategy and impediment in a task-based instruction. A novel approach, Retrodictive Qualitative Modeling (RQM) tied in a Dynamic System Theory (DST), was utilized to identify learners' archetypes, to highlight the dynamic patterns…

A key insight of a transdisciplinary perspective on second language acquisition (SLA) as articulated by the Douglas Fir Group (2016) is its usage-based understanding of language. Evidence on the fundamental role that usage plays in shaping individual language knowledge is no doubt compelling. However, while the force of social interaction in…

Child peer interaction in English as a foreign language (EFL) settings has recently received increasing attention with respect to age, instruction type and first language (L1) use, but longitudinal studies remain scarce and the effects of proficiency pairing and language choice on meaning negotiation strategies are still rather unexplored. Within…

Since Bernstein's (1958) preliminary assertions on sociology of education, many linguistic and paralinguistic features have undergone research in light of social class. The present article is aimed at finding the predictability of first language and second language politeness strategy use through social class. To this end, a group of Iranian…

The recent decades have witnessed a remarkable increase in the body of research that examine the relationship between humour and language acquisition. This study, however, uses the microanalytical approach of Conversation Analysis (CA) to investigate the impact of the teachers' competent use of the first language (L1) as a source of humour on…

The aim of this ethnographic study was to trace the English language development of a young boy from Syria (Nate, pseudonym) who relocated to the U.S. at the age of six without any prior exposure to formal schooling. Data were collected over a two-and-a-half-year period and included fieldnotes after weekly tutoring visits and writing samples. Nate…

This edited volume brings together 10 cutting-edge empirical studies on the realities of English language learning, teaching and testing in a wide range of global contexts where English is an additional language. It covers three themes: learners' development of interactional competence, the organization of teaching and testing practices, and…

Silence as a communicative act in face-to-face spontaneous interaction has been under-investigated in linguistic politeness research in Thailand. With the recent increase in the influx of foreign students gaining admission into Thai universities yearly, the result is that such universities will be a coexistence of cultures. This study therefore…

This study examined the development of interactional competence (Hall, 1993; He & Young, 1998) by beginning learners of Spanish as indexed by their use of alignment moves. Discourse analysis techniques and quantitative data analysis were used to explore how 52 learners expressed alignment and changes in participation patterns in two sets of…

Research Findings: This study aimed to (a) provide an in-depth description of the frequency and type of language interactions that children who are low income and/or dual language learners (DLLs) experience in their classrooms and (b) examine whether differences exist in children's language experiences based on children's DLL status and level of…